It Was Hard Enough to Take You Seriously With the Word "Phonograph" in Your Name…

You’ve got to love the the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry–if not for its hopelessly antediluvian moniker, then for its we’re-on-a-mission-from-God attitude toward its criminal case against torrent index The Pirate Bay. Just two days into the trial–apparently the hottest ticket in Stockholm right now–and already, half the charges against the Swedish site have been dropped because of the prosecution’s fundamental misunderstanding of the nature of the torrent-distributed protocol. Prosecutors had accused the defendants of “complicity in the production of copyrighted material,” i.e., assisting in the distribution of copyrighted material. Today they scrapped that charge, amending it to read, “complicity to make (copyrighted material) available,” after they were unable to prove that The Pirate Bay’s servers actually host copyrighted material.

In a hastily released statement, the IFPI downplayed the abrupt change of tack, claiming the amended charges will simplify its case. Said IFPI counsel Peter Danowsky, “It’s a largely technical issue that changes nothing in terms of our compensation claims and has no bearing whatsoever on the main case against The Pirate Bay. In fact it simplifies the prosecutor’s case by allowing him to focus on the main issue, which is the making available of copyrighted works.”

The Pirate Bay had a different take on the matter though. Said co-founder Peter Sunde in a Twitter message: EPIC WINNING LOL.

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